


Rain Check

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 07:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6695959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Barry sleeps, Iris and Cisco stage a coup at STAR Labs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain Check

**Author's Note:**

> An AU Post Ep to "Enter Zoom"

"Caitlin?"

Caitlin's head shot up when she heard Cisco's soft voice, felt his hand on her shoulder. Blinking, she looked around her, saw Barry still lying unconscious in his bed, the machines still showing the same lines and patterns she had observed before she had sat down for five minutes and absolutely, categorically had not fallen asleep. Looking up at Cisco, she expected to see an amused smile on his face. Instead, he looked sombre, his eyes dark and serious. "C'mere," he said quietly. "I need you."

Caitlin stood, wincing as she flexed her legs and she wondered just how long she had absolutely, categorically, not been asleep for. Feeling a little like  Bambi, she followed Cisco out of the room, back to the cortex where she found Joe and Iris standing beside Cisco's work station. Joe looked as tired as Caitlin herself felt, while Iris's eyes were worried as they moved between her dad and Caitlin. "What's wrong?" Caitlin asked, instantly fearing the worst, and Iris crossed her arms over her chest, set her jaw. 

"Cisco and I are declaring a coup," she declared. From the look on Joe's face, he was as confused as Caitlin herself. "We're sending you two home."

"No." Caitlin and Joe spoke at the same time, Caitlin's hair swinging wildly around her shoulders as she looked from Iris to Joe to Cisco and back to Iris. "I'm his doctor, I need to be here in case anything happens," she said, at the same time as Joe was saying, "No way, I'm here until he wakes up." 

Cisco didn't bat an eyelash at their words. Instead he looked at Iris and drawled, "Aw, look, they even disagree with us in unison... aren't they sweet?" 

"Adorable." Iris didn't sound as amused, rather more like she was inches away from rolling her eyes. "And it's so cute how they think they have a choice in the matter." 

Caitlin pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed in and out slowly. It didn't help at all. "Barry is in a very serious condition..." she began but Cisco didn't let her finish. 

"You said his vitals are stable," he reminded her and yes, damn it, she had said that. "You said that twice." Oh damn it, yes, she had said that too. 

"And didn't you tell me earlier on, Dad..." Iris's voice was sweet as honey but her smile was forged in iron. "That I should head home, because I'd be no good to Barry if I made myself sick too?"

Joe pressed his lips into a thin line, looked down at the ground as he crossed his arms over his chest. His nostrils flared in obvious annoyance and when he looked back up, he glanced over at Caitlin and it was like she was seeing him for the first time that day. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his skin was ashy and drawn, with lines on his brow and around his eyes that weren't usually there. He wore the marks of his long night of worry like battle scars and Caitlin had a feeling that she looked no better. 

To her own surprise, and certainly Joe's if the almost comical look on his face was any indication, she heard herself saying, "Let's go." 

"What?" Joe said as Cisco reached around to high five Iris. 

"They're right." Caitlin pushed her white coat off her shoulders, tossed it onto the nearest chair. Either Cisco would hang it for her or she'd worry about it when she came back. "I'm exhausted. You're exhausted. And neither of us can do what we need to do if we collapse." 

"So you two kids need to go home and head to bed." Cisco put one hand on her back, one hand on Joe's as he began to usher them towards the door. He froze as the words he'd said hung between them. "To sleep, I mean. Because we so do not want any repeats of the whole supply closet incident because..." He shuddered and Caitlin's cheeks grew hot. "Just no." 

"Yeah." Iris sounded distinctly unimpressed. "That's an image I could do without." 

Cisco's voice was a mixture of regret and understanding. "You and me both."  

Before she could say something she'd be sorry about later - and definitely before Joe did - Caitlin grabbed his hand, grabbed her jacket with the other and all but dragged him down the corridor, towards the elevator. "You can drive," she said once they were in the elevator and his fingers tightened on hers. 

"Don't I always?"

She had every intention of actually talking to him when they got into the car. After all, she wanted to hear his opinions on Zoom, let him get his frustrations with Wells off his chest. She intended to allay his fears about Barry, or, at the very least, talk about some of her own worries. But when she sat down and leaned her head back against the headrest, her eyes grew heavy and closed almost of their own accord. Just for a minute, she told herself firmly, but the next thing she knew, it was Joe's hand on her shoulder and they were sitting in the driveway of the West house. She blinked at him as she felt heat creeping over her cheeks that had as much to do with the fond look in his eyes as it had to do with embarrassment. "And you said you weren't tired." His voice was low and amused and she smiled back at him. 

"Actually, I believe I said I needed to stay to monitor Barry's vitals," she pointed out. "I didn't say anything about not being tired." A huge yawn overtook her and she covered her mouth with her hand. 

Beside her, Joe chuckled. "Come on... let's get you inside." 

She opened her door and stepped out onto the driveway, waited until he came around beside her and slipped his arm around her waist. She leaned against him at least as heavily as he was leaning against her and together they made their way up  the driveway and up the steps. She was already taking her heels off by the time that Joe was putting the key into the door and she threw them into the corner the second her feet crossed the threshold, for once not caring about being clean and tidy. She started to remove her jacket but Joe's hands on hers stilled her movement and she was suddenly very aware of how close he was standing behind her. 

"Allow me." His voice was lower than it had been in the car, sending shivers up and down her spine. His fingers brushed her hair aside, pushing it over her shoulder and across her chest, before trailing over her neck, pushing her jacket down her arms. Goose flesh erupted in the wake of his touch and she shivered again, letting herself lean back against him for just a moment. Then she slid her hand into his, waited for him to hang up her jacket beside his and then it was her turn to lead the way as they walked up the stairs. 

Once in his room - their room? She wasn't sure any more - she sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbed her aching feet, removed her necklace and watched as he stripped off his navy t-shirt, her eyes lingering on his chest, his arms. When he looked down at her, there was a tired smile on his lips that was completely at odds with the gleam in his eye. "One of us is wearing too many clothes." His voice was as warm as his eyes and she smiled in return, standing and turning her back to him, leaving the long golden zip of her dress obvious to him. 

"I can't fight with this zip," she told him which happened to be the honest truth. By a happy accident it also managed to sound flirty and sexy, even if she wasn't sure that that was exactly how she was feeling. 

"I got you." Joe stepped up behind her, tugging at the zip hard to dislodge it, then moving more gently as he pulled it down, careful not to snag it. Then it was the cool air of the room that made her shiver, nothing to do with the way that one finger traced a path back up her skin when he'd finished unzipping the dress, the way that his hands moved across her skin as they reached under the material and pushed it off her shoulders so that it rippled down her body and pooled into a puddle on the floor. 

Caitlin turned to face him, his arms going around her waist, hers settling on his shoulders. The look on his face was one that she recognised, one that would normally lead to several interesting places, including the supply closet that Cisco had mentioned earlier, but even as she remembered that comment, the same type of yawn that had overtaken her in the car overtook him and all she could do was laugh. 

He joined her in laughter, pulling her close against him and after he kissed the top of her head, he had one word for her. 

"Rain check?"

She didn't have to think twice about her answer. "Definitely."


End file.
